Crossing Borders: International Students’ Acculturation Journey in the Host Country

With the development of globalization, more and more students choose to study abroad, and issues related to the acculturation of international students have become increasingly prominent, affecting their academic performance, social life, mental health, values, and physical well-being. However, existing research lacks in-depth exploration of the intrinsic mechanisms of international students’ acculturation process from the view of international students themselves.
This study adopts grounded theory and conducts in-depth interviews with six international students in Germany. Based on the data collected, their acculturation process is conceptualized as a "journey", and the analysis is organized into three stages: before the journey, focusing on their motivations; during the journey, detailing the acculturation process including emotional changes, challenges, and coping strategies; and after the journey, describing the transformations experienced by international students.
The study finds that compared with the traditional assumptions of "integration" or "assimilation", contemporary international students are more inclined to selective acculturation and multicultural coexistence. And the international students’ acculturation reflects a new era feature with the development of technology, enlargement of globalization, and more convenience of the transportation, shifting from integration orientation to instrumental orientation and self-directed orientation.
Based on these insights, this study proposes a theoretical model of international students’ acculturation: the "Difficulty-Coping" model, emphasizing that acculturation of international students is a phased process centered on problem solving, rather than a single assimilation path, which provides theoretical contributions and practical inspiration for better understanding the acculturation mechanism of contemporary international students.